| Kevin Chester, elected to the Society 2009 | ||
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Kevin Chester was born in 1965. He was educated in
Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria. Upon leaving school in 1982
he attended Lancaster and Morecambe College for two
years, where he received a Diploma in Applied Design. He
then went to study Illustration at Manchester Polytechnic,
where he gained a Degree in 1987. Initially working in Advertising, as an illustrator, Kevin later became a freelance artist and painted portraits, animals, decorative figure pictures and was often asked to paint copies of the Old Masters. In 1996 he was elected a member of the Lake Artists Society but resigned in 1999 when he left the country to live in Brazil. Whilst in Brazil, Kevin painted society portraits, politicians and even a modem-day Catholic Saint. He also worked as a restorer and studied the Afro-Brazilian culture of Salvador - producing paintings based on those studies. In 2001 he and his work appeared on local and national TV. Kevin returned to the UK at the end of 2001, when he moved to the Scottish Highlands. There, he enjoyed painting the landscape - 'en plein air'. In 2003 he returned to Cumbria, living once again in Ulverston and teaching at Furness College. He was awarded an Honourable Mention in the ARC'S 2006 International Open Salon, in America, for his painting 'Baiana de Itapua'. This culminated in an exhibition on the ARC'S website - the largest 'Art Museum' on the internet, dedicated to promoting traditional values in Painting, Drawing and Sculpture. He draws his inspiration from many sources and cultures. He enjoys and is inspired by the work of Van Dyck, de Laszlo, Sargent, Mucha, R. Schmid, mid to late Victorian painting in general and the Neo-classical painters and Orientalists, in particular. Kevin now paints exclusively in Oils and enjoys pencil drawing. He has worked in most mediums, but prefers the flexibility and what he sees as the vast potential of the oil painting medium - enabling him to better express and develop his work on all levels. He works as a Freelance Artist and Life Drawing Tutor and has exhibited in Cumbria, Manchester, Wales, Devon, Scotland, London and Brazil. His work can be found in private collections and public institutions in Europe and in North and South America. |
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